SOTHEBY’S NUMBERS JUMP FOR 2007In the first six months of 2007, Sotheby’s auction house earned more than in any full year in its history, according to Sotheby’s CEO Bill Ruprecht, who recently announced the firm’s second-quarter 2007 results. Sales for the first half of 2007 totaled $2.9 billion, up an impressive 44 percent from the same period in 2006. Sotheby’s income was $131.7 million, up 92 percent, a record, on record revenues of $486.9 million, up 41 percent. The house sold the highest priced lot of the period as well, Mark Rothko’s White Center (1950), which went for $72.8 million.